Washington – Sen. Ken Salazar is now a key player in the congressional tug of war over immigration legislation.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has asked Salazar, D-Colo., to sit on the committee that would unify any immigration bill the Senate passes with one the House passed last year.
“It’s an opportunity to work on one of the most pressing matters of national security for our country,” Salazar said.
It’s an unusual opportunity for a freshman senator, one that will put him in the center of intense political conflict. Many House Republicans oppose any legislation that would grant legal status to illegal immigrants.
Salazar has not yet sat on a conference committee. Members are normally appointed by seniority. Reid asked Salazar as he was putting together a deal with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., that allows the immigration bill to come up for Senate debate. The legislation languished for more than a month because the two leaders couldn’t agree on rules for debating the bill and what would happen to it once it’s passed.
Reid wanted to protect provisions Democrats support, such as a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. He believed the best way to do that would be to have a say in who shapes the final legislation that goes to President Bush, said Reid spokesman Jim Manley.
“He brings an important voice to the debate,” Manley said of Salazar. “He’s from a Western state, obviously of Hispanic heritage. He’s been active in the debate so far.”
Salazar said he wants to make sure the final package deals with border security, enforcement of current laws and what he calls “the reality” of the estimated 11 million to 12 million undocumented workers in the country.
“If we can get to a bill that has a good margin of victory in the Senate, I think we’ll have a good shot at getting something out of the conference committee that is similar to what we get out of the Senate,” he said.
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who heads the group of Republicans opposed to any legalization of illegal immigrants, said he’s not surprised Salazar was asked to join the conference committee because “the entire makeup of the committee is in fact supporting (the Senate bill).”
If the Senate passes legislation with guest worker provisions and citizenship for illegal immigrants, Tancredo said he doubts the conference committee will be able to unify the disparate House and Senate bills.
“There’s just no way it will pass the House,” he said.
President Bush is expected to give a speech Monday night about immigration laws and the possible expansion of National Guard troops at the U.S.-Mexico border. That’s an effort, Tancredo said, to assuage critics who say border security needs to be beefed up before a guest worker plan can be considered.
